BRANCH COMMUNITY
His Presence. His Leadership. Filling His House!
BRANCH COMMUNITY is a local church rooted in Lancaster, PA. We are a community of people whose lives have been forever changed by an encounter with Jesus, and we live to know Him and make Him known.
How We Gather
Sunday Services at 10 AM
Prayer – We are a church that prays together, 7 days a week. Join our Call To Prayer!
Our Life Together – There’s always lots of exciting things happening and you can view all the latest on our Church Center Events Page!
How We Go
Training – We provide discipleship opportunities that are designed to awaken your heart and activate your purpose!
Missions – We send long term missionaries and support them with short term teams as needed.
Church Planting – Our vision is to be an “Antioch Church” that has multiplication in its DNA and is committed to training leaders and planting churches.
Elder Team
Our church is governed by a team of elders as outlined in our church bylaws.
Steven Fisher
Lead Elder
Jesse Stoltzfus
Treasurer
Crystal Fisher
Secretary
Arlin Riehl
Elder
Andy Lapp
Elder
Jake Beiler
Elder
Staff Team
We're here to serve! Feel free to contact any of our staff members if you have questions or requests!
OUR STORY
In 2015, a small group of young adults began to meet in a basement every Wednesday night to pray for revival. Within a few months, the little prayer meeting doubled and then tripled in size, over the next few years, we continued to gather weekly to pray.
In the summer of 2017, the Lord began to release fresh vision, and a leadership team was established. We began to ask what God desired of us as a community. It was during this time of searching that God began to bring clarity and direction for next steps.
In October of 2018, we launched Ministry Nights, which began as a monthly gathering focused on encountering the Lord and hosting His Presence. We began renting space from Ridgeview Mennonite Church as they graciously gave us the opportunity to expand into a dedicated area with an office and a prayer room.
It became clear to us in the summer of 2019 that God was leading us to establish Branch Community as a local church. On March 15th, 2020, we launched Branch Community as a local church with 110 people in attendance. Enthusiasm was high as the Lord encountered our hearts that first Sunday night. It was that very week that the reality of Covid-19 hit and smashed our carefully laid plans! The following months were challenging but we pressed on despite the pandemic and the turmoil that followed. We now look back on 2020 as the year that God planted us for such a time as this!
Oversight and Affiliations
HarvestNet International is committed to networking & equipping front-line workers for world harvest. As a church partner, Branch Community is committed to serving this vision and we also receive oversight from HarvestNet leaders.
Barry Wissler
Dr. Barry Wissler is the founding President of HarvestNet International, a network of churches, ministries and businesses partnering for the harvest. Having pastored Ephrata Community Church for 37 years, Barry passed leadership to a successor and now focuses on training emerging leaders and building organizational teams. HNI serves churches in Europe, Asia, North and South America and also operates the HarvestNet School of Supernatural Ministry.
Dave Hess
Dave and his wife Sheri serve as senior leaders of Christ Community Church, a vibrant fellowship of Jesus-followers in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He is the author of three books, Hope Beyond Reason, Hope Beyond Disappointment and Side by Side: Women and Men Leading Together in the Church.
Dave and Sheri enjoy ministering together, doing life together, and spending time with their growing family—three grown children and five grandchildren. Their rescue dog, Hayley, rounds out the crew.
Wayne Kaufman
Wayne serves on the HarvestNet International Apostolic Council and attends Ephrata Community Church. He spends a significant portion of his time traveling nationally and internationally training missionaries and church leaders. He is married to Jan and has three grown sons.